Chapter 5. Cool Equipment Doesn't Exist
---
First, set a small goal: defeat ten Minotaurs.
Bell had always thought that Cyd was saying this to motivate him, even if it wasn't something to be taken seriously right away.
However, Cyd wasn't joking. After Bell woke up, Cyd dragged him straight to the 15th floor.
"Uwaaahhh! Teacher, it's impossible!"
Bell dodged the Minotaur's attacks, holding his head in panic.
It wasn't that Bell was afraid to fight the Minotaur.
No matter how the Minotaur attacked, it couldn't hit Bell. But at the same time, no matter how Bell attacked, he couldn't kill the Minotaur. The average-quality sword he held had already broken, and even when Bell tried to strangle the Minotaur from behind with a rope, it just forcefully threw him off.
If it were an ordinary beast, it would have been exhausted by Bell's efforts, but the Minotaur was too tough and kept chasing Bell everywhere.
"Hmm... The weapon is one problem, and the lack of strength is another. I guess I was too hasty. Ah~ Teacher, how do you always manage just the right amount of training?" Cyd scratched the back of his head. "I'm still not as good as you."
"Teacher!" Bell shouted loudly.
"Hm?" Cyd looked up, and a giant shadow loomed over him.
"ROAR---"
The Minotaur roared and raised its fist.
Apparently, after realizing it couldn't hit Bell no matter what, the Minotaur decided to give up on him and instead attacked Cyd, who had been observing the entire time.
"I can't see Bell," Cyd said expressionlessly as he threw a punch.
"BOOM---"
The Minotaur's legs fell to the ground. As for the rest of its body, even if you scraped the blood and flesh off the rock wall and pieced it together... well, that wouldn't work either.
"Teacher, I've disappointed you," Bell said dejectedly as he approached Cyd.
At first, he had been a bit smug when he realized he could fully track the Minotaur's movements. But reality proved that all he could do was run away without looking too pathetic.
"No, it's my fault. I didn't understand the system here," Cyd patted Bell's head. "The mission to kill ten Minotaurs is postponed for now. Let's take it slower."
"Teacher, actually I…"
"Let's start by killing 10,000 goblins!" Cyd raised his right index finger.
[Teacher, I can still do it!]
Bell was going to say this, but after hearing Cyd's command to kill 10,000 goblins, he swallowed the second half of his sentence.
"Teacher... Isn't 10,000 a bit..." Bell cried out with a mournful expression, gesturing with his fingers.
"You're right; it is a bit too few," Cyd nodded thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "Then make it 20,000."
Bell: ...…
"But your current equipment isn't good enough," Cyd tossed the money bag in his hand. "It's time to get you some new gear."
"Really!" Bell's eyes lit up.
No man can resist the allure of new equipment!
A sword wrapped in magma, a scythe emitting black energy, a hammer with violent aesthetics, a staff entwined with thunder, and so on.
In short, all sorts of flashy god-tier equipment flashed through his mind.
A hero must have a cool weapon, after all!
Seeing Bell's excitement, Cyd nodded in satisfaction.
"Look forward to it—the weapon most suited to you~"
"Mm!" Bell's eyes sparkled like stars.
Inside the weapon shop.
"Boss, I'll take a helmet, a round shield, and a short sword."
With just one sentence, Cyd managed to deflate Bell's boiling excitement by more than half.
"Teacher… uh…" Bell forced a smile that looked worse than crying. "A cool weapon…"
Cyd blinked. "And a chainmail, please."
"THUD---"
Bell collapsed to his knees, the background turning dark.
The greatsword, the war hammer, the scythe—all of them were gone.
"Oh, and please make the edge of the shield as thin as possible, with a thicker center," Cyd continued to discuss with the shop owner, paying no attention to Bell, who looked like he'd lost his dreams.
Although the shop owner didn't understand why Cyd wanted a shield with a thin edge, he complied, considering the gold coins presented to him.
The novice Bell obtained a helmet, chainmail, a strange round shield, and a short sword.
"Teacher, is it really necessary to be this heavily equipped just to fight goblins?" Bell asked reluctantly, staring at the helmet before him.
"You're not thinking that the helmet is too ugly to wear, are you?" Cyd rolled his eyes.
"No… of course not…" Bell's eyes wandered evasively.
"Bell, the dungeon isn't a playground. No one can predict if they'll be alive in the next moment," Cyd pointed to his head. "If you take damage here, it's over. Remember, Bell, only the living can become heroes."
Bell was stunned. After staring silently at the helmet that could protect his entire head, he put it on.
"I understand, Teacher!"
"I'm glad you do," Cyd tilted his head. "That means I won't have to drag you back and re-educate you."
Bell's legs went weak, and he grabbed onto the nearby rock wall for support.
"If there's anything else you don't understand, be sure to ask," Cyd said, folding his arms. "Helping students avoid mistakes is part of a teacher's job."
"About this shield," Bell raised the small round shield on his left arm. "Why did you make the edge so thin? Won't it be easily cut through?"
"Ah, that's not for defense," Cyd waved his arm. "Just swing your left arm as if it's a handle."
Bell instinctively imagined the scene and twitched his mouth. "The round shield would become an axe."
"And the thicker center is for," Cyd raised his right index finger, "use as a hammer."
"Is this really a shield?! Defense! Teacher, what about defense?!"
"Just dodge everything, won't you?"
"That... makes sense…"
"Alright, Bell, let's get going," Cyd said, giving Bell a firm pat on the back. "To defeat the Minotaur, you need a solid foundation—speed, strength, endurance, skill. You must constantly train in all these areas! This is the first step to becoming a hero."
"I'll do my best, Teacher!" Bell's eyes, visible through the helmet, shone with a fiery determination.
"Now that's more like it," Cyd patted Bell's back. "Let's go, Bell—your enemies have arrived."
"Clatter, clatter---"
The rock wall began to crack, and goblins wielding weapons started crawling out.
"Teacher! I will become a hero!"
With a small round shield on his left arm and a short sword in his right hand, Bell's eyes glowed red like embers behind his helmet's grill.
Bell shouted as he charged toward the newly spawned goblin squad.